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This morning Venturebeat published a story about a new application being promoted by Facebook. According to Eldon, the application “invites people to pay tribute to those who have used Facebook to influence social change and contribute to a more open and connected world.” What appeared most controversial was that the application was launched in German.
This, according to Eldon, suggests that Facebook is heavily invested in defeating its German counterpart, StudiVZ, which it previously failed at acquiring. I took a look at the application after reading Eldon’s post and it appears that there is no longer a German version of the application. I’m not sure what to interpret from that exactly but it definitely is a little bit odd.
The contests asks participants to submit a story 150 to 250 words in length “telling a true, compelling story about how you have used Facebook to better your life, and/or your community, and/or the lives of those around you.” Users are also encouraged to submit two or three photographs which support the story. Not quite sure that 150 to 250 words is exactly an essay but that’s neither here nor there.
“Finalists from each country will be given a Flip video camera to create a one to three minute video telling your Facebook story and supporting your initial entry.” Users from Facebook will then vote on the submissions. Facebook has yet to start promoting the application but I’d assume some sort of promotion via their blog in the coming days.
However the contest unfolds, it’s interesting to see Eldon’s interpretation of Facebook trying to compete with StudiVZ in Germany. I’m a little bit skeptical of this analysis though given that the contest did anything but single out Germany as the primary location for this contest. Just last week I wrote about Facebook promoting parties in Germany to try to increase growth.
Honestly, I think the real story here is a simple one: Facebook is launching a new campaign to promote how the site can be used globally for good. It’s a great idea and I’m interested to see the types of results produced. If you are interested in participating, check out the Facebook for Good application.
Hey Nick,
Facebook for Good is only available in German at this time — and it's live right now.
I'm confused… not sureif I see German there but I definitely don't see any contest as of right now geared towards Americans. I tried to enter the 3,000 Euros one and of course it was for UK residents. It's apparent that they're just not finished with this app yet which is why they're not promoting it?
I think it's a great idea, and honestly if their whole platform is global betterment (as opposed to America betterment which seems to be synonymous for a lot of countries) I think it was a good move to release the application in a language other than English to beginning (assuming, of course, that an English one quickly follows suit). If they had a legitimate business reason to make it German over, say, French, Japanese, Welsh, whatever, then good for them.